Ballad, Broadway, BackUp
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one hundred and twenty: ABCs #2 Rachel continues her efforts to assist the romantic entanglements of Will and Emma.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, and fifty cycle. Now here's cycle 6!_

_Walking through a bookstore back in december, I saw the series of books by Sue Grafton that go "A is for...," "B is for...," etc, and I got the idea for this set. It will spread over the end of cycle 6, and carry through cycles 7 and 8, to be posted on alternating days. [And by the time we reach the end, Glee will be a week away!!] What I did is I found three words for each letter that would have some significance to Glee, and I built a plot around it. You with me? Okay, here we go...  
**2 of 26: B is for...**_

* * *

**"Ballad, Broadway, Back-Up"  
Will/Emma, Rachel & New Directions  
Sequel to "Green: Generosity & Youth"**

It wasn't hard once the first seed had been planted in Rachel's mind for the whole tree to go and grow, branches to her plan sprouting left and right. She'd swear up and down that the whole thing came to her in a dream.

There would be two major parts to her plan, which would come to be known as 'Operation Faculty Love.' It wasn't much, but they were trying to be covert… or they would be once she convinced the others to help out. It wouldn't work without them.

That was part of part one. She needed to recruit the rest of Glee Club, and Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsbury couldn't know. It had to be all twelve or none at all… which could be scary, knowing how previous recruitment efforts had worked out. If and when she had all of them on board, they'd need to prepare. And then… part two. They'd just have to keep alert for that one. Part two couldn't really be scheduled, or the whole thing could just crash and burn.

The way she saw the recruitment, she had to establish pillars. Once she had them convinced, they could go to those who would respond to them, and then it might go over better than if it came from her.

There would be three pillars: For their original little Glee family, she would turn to Tina. With her on her side, she could get Mercedes, Artie, and Kurt. For the cheerleaders, she'd count on Quinn to get to Santana and Brittany. Things weren't exactly all roses with them yet, but they had certainly advanced. To get the last group, the jocks, Puck, Finn, and Matt, she'd call on Mike. Before the secret coming out, she'd have asked Finn, but…

She pulled Tina aside on their way to class. She went to Quinn at lunch. She got a hold of Mike between two classes. To each of them she gave her proposal.

She wanted to provide Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsbury a moment… a bit of romance. She knew from speaking from speaking with Miss Pillsbury, and from observing Mr. Schuester, that there were feelings. And with both of them single now, why should they stay hidden? All it would take was a song.

They would wait on the opportunity to present itself, and appeal to Mr. Schuester's 'here let me show you how it's done' tendencies. And when he'd say yes, then they could bait him with a twist.

Tina hesitated at first, but agreed in the end. Quinn was relatively enthusiastic, which surprised Rachel. Mike said he'd give it a shot, but made no promises he could wrangle his marks. To each of them she asked that they get back to her as soon as possible.

It was faster than she thought. Tina reached her not too long after she'd made the pitch to Mike. Her group was in. Quinn had caught Santana and Brittany before the two of them headed to cheer practice. She'd called Rachel with a yes from each right after. And after practice – basketball now – Mike had texted in… they were all in… all twelve.

She hadn't expected such a quick turnaround, but it didn't throw her one bit. She moved right along. After the next Glee practice, she covertly directed the group into the dance classroom. There wasn't much to tell them. Up to the moment, they wouldn't know the song – though Rachel had a pretty long list running through her mind – so all they could do was agree on what they would do once the time did come. Song or no song, that part they could still set out. Seeing how willing they all seemed to be, Rachel was confident this would be a success.

It took nearly two weeks before their golden opportunity came. Somehow the topic had veered to Broadway. Rachel had happened to lock gaze with Kurt, and it was as though they could read each other's minds, and Kurt spoke up. He said two words.

"Music Man…" Mr. Schuester responded immediately, bringing up his favorite song… it was too perfect, Rachel could hardly stand it. Her hand went into the air.

Mr. Schuester, if I may? I would love for us to perform it," she nodded.

"Sounds good," Mr. Schuester nodded. "Guys, any takers?" Rachel looked back to the boys, who made a good show of perpetrating what they'd agreed on… no one volunteered. "Oh, come on, guys, it's not that big of a part…" Still no hands. Mr. Schuester looked to Rachel, and she could tell where his mind had gone. But he sighed. "Right, okay," he nodded to her. Right on target…

"Mr. Schuester, I'm flattered, really. However following what happened last time, I think it would be best, for all of us, if we went a different way." She saw relief.

"I agree, but… What way would that be?" he asked. Rachel smiled. Once he was out of the room, she stood to face the others.

"Those who don't know it, raise your hand." Most of them went up. Kurt looked exasperated. "Okay, we'll make this quick."

As Rachel was taking the others through the song, Will made his way to Emma's office. At the door, he knocked on the frame. "Hey, got a few minutes?" he smiled when she looked up and smiled as well.

"Sure, why? What's going on?"

"Oh… shenanigans…" he smirked. She nodded as she got up and moved around her desk.

"Should I be worried?" she joked.

"I'm not," he continued to smirk, leading her along. As they reached the room, the twelve of them were sitting back, waiting. "Here we are," he nodded, indicating Emma. She waved to the kids.

"Thank you for helping us with this number," Rachel spoke to her, smiling. Emma looked back at Will, who gave her a quiet look. She looked back to all of them, smiling.

"S-sure… Sure, yes. What… what song are you thinking…" When Will told her, she had an automatic reaction at first. "Oh, Music Man…" she drifted into a smile. Then she realized something and her serenity faded into slight panic. "Am I…" Will nodded. "But it's nearly the whole…" Will didn't reply, just smiled. "Right… okay…" she spoke nervously. Will led her to the center of the room.

The first notes came from the piano, while the kids sat back, exchanging looks, knowing their role. As her cue came, Emma began to sing.

_[E] "There were bells on the hill / But I never heard them ringing, / No, I never heard them at all / Till there was you."_

Slowly the group came to stand, spreading around the two in the center, lending their voices to back her up. Both Emma and Will followed them with their eyes, slightly confused by this.

_[E (ND)] "There were birds in the sky / But I never saw them winging / No, I never saw them at all / Till there was you._

_And there was music, / And there were wonderful roses, / They tell me, / In sweet fragrant meadows of dawn, and dew."_

The more they went along, the further around they went, to the point where they created a circle around the pair. They surrounded them, almost like support, more so than vocally.

_[E (ND)] "There was love all around / But I never heard it singing / No, I never heard it at all / Till there was you."_

The oddity of the scene around them was fading. In their bubble, Emma truly was singing to Will, for Will. She was smiling, and he was smiling back. It had got to dawn on them what was happening, what Rachel and the others had been doing. It was only made more amusing to them, knowing that what they tried to do was already… achieved. But still she sang, and now so did he.

_[E/W (ND)] "There was love all around / But I never heard it singing / No, I never heard it at all / Till there was you."_

The music went to its peak, and the fourteen voices melded as one, carrying the song to its end.

"That was perfect," Rachel smiled, the club giving their two 'leads' a round of applause. Will applauded Emma as well. She smiled, feeling her cheeks warm up.

"Happy to do it," she nodded.

"Let me walk you back," Will offered a nod. They headed off together, leaving the others to celebrate in their collaborative 'victory.'

THE END


End file.
